Hugs
by akamai
Summary: Robin is jealous because Starfire seems to hug everyone but him. Takes place before season three. RobStar


Well, remember back in season two when most of us R/S shippers noticed that Starfire had hugged everyone on the team but Robin? Well, what if this happened?

Edit- A couple of people have pointed outa continuity problem in the one-shot and I'm fixing it. (Thanks to anyone who pointed this out!) Now, I've decided this takes place AFTER season three (a little after "Can I Keep Him?")and pretend Starfire never hugged Robin after "Revolution".xD I have to do that to make this story work! Anyway, the whole thing is Robin's POV.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

**Hugs**

I've decided that I hate the mail man. Or better yet, I hate myself. I shouldn't have told him that Starfire gave everyone hugs, because that's when he began to expect one. Just the other day, he delivered the mail, and she hugged him for it.

And last week, she hugged Cyborg for letting her have a chance to cook a traditional Tameranian breakfast instead of having the usual bacon and eggs.

Then she went and hugged Beast Boy—twice in fact—for actually trying to eat the breakfast she cooked _and_ when she won the Mega Monkey II two player challenge against him. He _let_ her win, anyway. He didn't deserve a hug for that!

And just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, she goes and hugs Raven this afternoon for reading her a book about teeth plaque. _Teeth plaque._

What gives?

I've helped her do more things than all of them combined. I taught her English, and I hang out with her all the time and not to mention I taste her food more times than anyone in this tower. I've done all of this, and she's never hugged me. Not once. And for a while there I thought she was my best friend. I mean, it's not because I'm jealous, it's because it's just...strange. I don't get it. Why not me?

"What's wrong with me?" I said out loud.

A hug...is presumably supposed to make one feel better. I've read this in one of Raven's books, and right now, I'm feeling pretty cranky. It's probably all of this paperwork I have to do, or maybe because the teams not giving their best during practices. I could be because Cyborg and Beast Boy are always talking so loudly, and fighting over stupid things. Then Raven makes it even worse, by trying to talk over them while telling them to be quiet. Pacing around my room and talking to myself wasn't helping either.

All of those things can make a person cranky, right? I'm just having a few off days...

I walked up to my bed, held up my pillow, and punched it so that it flung to the wall. That felt better...a little.

I gave a small laugh as I thought about my worries. About Beast Boy and Cyborg fighting, Raven yelling, and my pacing.

I suddenly stopped laughing. What was I thinking about again?

Oh yeah. Hugs.

I heard a small rapping on my door and heard a gentle voice call my name. Right. I was thinking about hugs. And the queen of them was here.

_Ok_, I thought, _I'll pick up my pillow and try to make myself look presentable, and hope that Starfire didn't hear me pacing in here._ Although it was probably hard for her not to, because my pacing was more like stomping around the room.

She called my name again with a more worried tone in her voice. That was one of the many things I couldn't stand. Starfire being worried. It made me feel so pained and guilty even if I wasn't the cause of her worry. Upon thinking this, I ran to the door and opened it.

She wasn't smiling at me, and looked pretty worried as her tone was. She seemed to think something was wrong with me. "Robin, you are all right?"

"I'm ok," I told her. "I just forgot to open the door..."

She gave a confused stare but the worried expression was still fixed on her face.

My heart skipped a beat at my last comment. Wait a minute...no I didn't.

"You were talking," she told me. "And there is no one present in your room, but yourself. You are sure you are fine?"

"I'm fine, Starfire," I told her. I forced a smile. I fantasized Starfire going through the same thing I was going through, but not liking her best friend being troubled.

She continued, as if she had heard nothing I had just said. "And I had heard loud sounds...like stomping--"

"Said I was fine."

"Correct, I am aware that you have informed me of that, but I just wanted to make sure." She turned towards the door and sighed. "And now I have forgotten what I was looking for." Her face scrunched up as she tried to remember.

Hugs. I'd really need one right now. Maybe I should tell her what's really going on...

"You know Star..." I started, "I...I'm not fine."

"You are not?" A curious expression spread across her face. Curious, but not surprised.

"No, I'm not. There's just been a lot on my mind lately."

"Like what?" she asked softly.

"Um..." I tugged at the collar of my throat. This was this awkward silence I expected. Was I really going to ask her why she never hugged me?

_Not now_, I thought, so I continued. "Like Cyborg and Beast Boy always fighting over food and video games. It gets on my nerves."

"Yes, that is quite frustrating," she agreed. A smile appeared on her face. "But their arguments are most amusing!" She quickly looked back at me. "I am meaning that _sometimes_ they are amusing…"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. And Raven tells them to shut up, when she's really being louder than them. That...that's been bugging me too."

_Don't mention the hugs. _I reminded myself.

"Yes. That is because Raven does not find their arguments amusing," Starfire pointed out to me.

_Don't mention them…_

I continued. "And all of that paperwork I have to do. I don't know why, but the amount is killing me--"

"Killing you?" Starfire asked with a frightened look in her large emerald eyes. "Perhaps I can--"

"It's a figure of speech, Starfire," I told her.

"Oh. I am sorry for the misunderstanding." She blushed. She looked at her feet and then looked back at me. "You still look troubled. Are you sure that is it?"

_Don't--_

My own voice interrupted my thoughts. "Yes, there's more." I didn't care how stupid it sounded. I was going to ask her why she never hugged me. Right now. "Starfire, it's just that...when Cyborg let you cook, and Beast Boy let you win...and when Raven read that book to you...and that mailman…he was a complete stranger...why did you?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Why did I what?"

"Why did you hug them!" I blurted this out as if it was the most important thing in the world.

"Robin, they are my friends--" she started.

"What about the mailman?" I abruptly asked. "He's not your friend is he?"

"He is not. He was kind to me, and he delivers our mail everyday--"

"And I'm not your friend!" I spurted out. "We've hung out together, and I've helped you loads of times...and all I get it a, 'Thank you!'"

Now, she wouldn't even look at me in the eyes. She was now looking across my room at a corner. I begun to feel bad for all I was saying, but I just wanted to know why.

My voice lowered as I was ready to ask the embarrassing question, "Why don't you ever hug _me_?"

I sounded pitiful and probably looked like a sad puppy right now.

"I am...sorry, Robin," she slowly said while looking back at me."I did not know that hurt you."

"Well...it did."

She opened her mouth to continue, and looked over at the far corner of my room again. What was she looking at at a time like this?

"Um…Star—" I looked over to the corner to see what she was so interested in, and saw a small pink lump duck under my desk.

Starfire cried out the same name I thought of as soon as I saw that pink lump. "Silkie!" She now ran over to the corner of my room.

The mutant silkworm was hiding in the corner of my room all of this time, and I didn't know it. Go figure.

She picked up Silkie and hugged him. Then she kissed him as well. I stood there watching, dumbfounded.

"Robin," she was now walking up to me. "You were watching my Silkie all along?"

"I--"

"I had been looking for him! I am glad you took the time to watch him."

Silkie happily gurgled and Starfire giggled. "Thank you."

There it was. That simple 'thank you' again.

I gave a disgruntled sigh, but I did not have anymore time to complain in my head. Actually, I wouldn't be complaining for a long time, because surprisingly at that moment, she kissed me.

It was quick and right on the lips. I didn't even have a chance to see her leaning in. I didn't even have a chance to react. I didn't say anything for a moment and she giggled once more.

"Is that better than a 'thank you' or a hug?" she asked.

"Both," I managed to get out. "Starfire...why did you do that…now?"

"Perhaps I like you as 'more than a friend'," she shyly told me.

_More than a friend._ Such beautiful four words.

"I believe you feel the same way since you were," her tone saddened, "angry with me that I did not ever hug you."

"Um…Starfire, I didn't have any right to be angry because of that. I was just," I sighed and spit out the word like it was poison, "jealous. I was jealous and I didn't want to admit it."

She smiled at me. "It is alright, Robin. I am just glad that we have both gotten our feelings 'off of our chests'."

I nodded, because I strongly agreed. We stood in silence and I looked around, embarrassed that we were discussing our feelings there, in my room. "Hey, um...let's go onto the roof," I suggested.

I took Silkie from Starfire's arms and she exited out of my room first. I grinned broadly when her back was turned. "One things for sure," I muttered to the silkworm as I followed Starfire, "I'm not ever going to tell any strangers that Starfire kisses everyone."

**The End**

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